2025-W29 — The 49-Hour Fast: Testing the Wall

…and Finding the Edge

What happened this week

Between mid-July and the first week of August, my wife and I decided to run a simple experiment: we wanted to see how far we could go with a longer fast before we hit “the wall.”

We didn’t choose it because it sounded impressive. We chose it because we were curious. We wanted to learn what our bodies would do, and we wanted to do it in a controlled way, paying attention to how we felt.

We made it to 49 hours.

That number became our edge for that attempt—not in a dramatic way, but in a clear way. We could feel that we were approaching the point where continuing would turn it from a useful experiment into something we’d push through just to say we did it.

So we stopped.

The travel + wellness thread

This was a different kind of week than airports and client meetings. It was still part of the same theme, though: building a routine that’s simple enough to repeat and honest enough to adjust.

Longer fasting isn’t “better” by default. The value comes from learning—especially learning where your limit is right now, with your current training load, sleep, stress, and schedule.

This week wasn’t about forcing an extreme. It was about mapping the terrain.

How we broke the fast

We broke the fast intentionally and gently: Balance, then light protein.

No binge. No victory lap meal. Just a controlled re-entry.

And the biggest surprise was how normal it felt. We felt fine. The experiment didn’t end with fireworks—it ended with clarity.

What I learned

This week taught me the difference between discipline and ego.

Discipline is choosing the experiment and sticking with it while it’s useful. Ego is continuing past the point of usefulness just so the number gets bigger.

Stopping at 49 hours wasn’t quitting. It was completing the test exactly as intended: we found the wall, we learned where it was, and we kept the experience positive enough that we’d be willing to experiment again later.

Next week’s tiny focus

Choose one small “end condition” for an experiment before you start it. Example: “If sleep drops, mood crashes, or focus disappears, I stop and reset.”